VOA标准英语2010年-US Muslims Say Aggressive FBI Tactics

Sheikh Tarek Saleh, a Brooklyn cleric

The Rand Corporation reports that of nearly 30 homegrown terror plots uncovered in the United States since the September 11 attacks, ten surfaced in 2009, making it a record year for homegrown terror plots. But many Muslims say law enforcement is pushing too hard in the quest to uncover terrorists among Muslim communities in the United States.

When five young Muslim Americans went missing last November, their parents met with Muslim elders and then went to the FBI.
 
"This could have been much worse than what it appears to be today had it not been that the families, the mosque¹ and the Muslim community responded in both a lawful² and responsive manner," said Mahdi Bray³, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation.

The men were later arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks.

In the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound jet on Christmas Day, his father also contacted authorities before the alleged⁴ attack to report his son's growing extremism. 

Muslim community members in New York City say they too want to help law enforcement ferret out terrorists in their midst.  

But some say the FBI is pushing too hard, infiltrating⁵ their mosques⁶ and threatening them if they don't cooperate.

"If I see somebody will make attack here I will go to stop it in every way.  Even I will lose my life," said Sheikh Tarek Saleh, a Brooklyn cleric. But he says there's a limit to what he can and will do to help police.

He claims the FBI scuttled⁷ his green card application because he refused to to travel to Afghanistan for the agency and gain the trust of a distant relative in al-Qaida who he says he is not in contact with.  "To use me as a bait to trap people, I cannot do this job," he said.

"If you send him to Afghanistan he is finished.  If you live in the United States you are already infidel," said Fares al Basir, president of Sheikh Tarek's  mosque.  He says the FBI even sent an informant to gather information on the Sheikh.  It was intimidating⁸, he says. "He asked that since I am president of the mosque if I have any influence on the sheikh so I can convince him to work with the FBI, but we as people, me the sheikh and everybody sitting here it's not our job.  This is not our job to do," he said.

Asked to comment about Sheikh Tarek's green card and the claim that the FBI asked him to travel to Afghanistan to smoke-out al Qaida members, a spokesman for the bureau did not directly address the issues.  Instead, he said the bureau has formed solid relationships with many Muslim communities and the outreach is  ongoing⁹. 

But complaints of perceived FBI strong-arm tactics come from many Muslims.

"We are not here to create mischief¹⁰. We are here living, choosing to live here, because we have better opportunities here," said Wael Mousfar, President of the Arab Muslim American Federation¹¹.

"If you are instilling¹² fear into people and you are not allowing people to live a comfortable life where everywhere they go into the mosque and they look at the person next to them and they say 'is this an informant, is that an informant?' The fact that they have to have these thoughts in their mind is really not fair to this community," said Linda Sarsour, who directs the Arab American Association of New York.

But terrorism experts defend the use of informants, as well as incentives¹³ and disincentives.
  
"It is not unique to the Muslim community.  Informants are a major source of intelligence to law enforcement.  They operate on the basis of the fact that the community which they are infiltrating has been uncooperative with law enforcement and is not providing the intelligence they need," said Steven Emerson, who runs the Investigative Project on Terrorism, a non-profit group that taped American Islamic leaders even before the September 11 attacks on the U.S.  

He says Muslim leaders themselves are instilling fear in their congregants - fear of the FBI. "We know that many Islamic groups tell their followers¹⁴ don't talk to the FBI and, number two, the United States is involved in a conspiracy¹⁵ against you.  Those are incendiary allegations," he said,.

"The truth is that our laws and our institutional capacities are probably less aggressive than many of the Europeans," said Gary Schmitt, a scholar with the conservative American Enterprise Institute. He says it's legal for the FBI to send agents into mosques and that no one's freedom is being violated.

"Both the First Amendment¹⁶ and the Fourth Amendment really put real restrictions¹⁷ on what the government can do in terms of speech, in terms of looking at the practice of religion, in terms of your ability to violate someone's privacy," he said.

Muslim leaders and law enforcement officials agree that trust is essential for the relationship to bear fruit.  

Meantime, Sheikh Tarek's deportation¹⁸ hearing is set for March.
 

1 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

2 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

3 bray   

n.驴叫声, 喇叭声；v.驴叫

参考例句：

• She cut him off with a wild bray of laughter.她用刺耳的狂笑打断了他的讲话。
• The donkey brayed and tried to bolt.这头驴嘶叫着试图脱缰而逃。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 infiltrating   

v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Be vigilant against the danger of enemy agents infiltrating the government and boring from within. 要警惕敌特渗入政府内部进行暗中破坏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The metastatic melanoma is seen here to be infiltrating into the myocardium. 图示转移性黑色素瘤浸润到心肌。 来自互联网

6 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

7 scuttled   

v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走

参考例句：

• She scuttled off when she heard the sound of his voice. 听到他的说话声，她赶紧跑开了。
• The thief scuttled off when he saw the policeman. 小偷看见警察来了便急忙跑掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

11 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

12 instilling   

v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instil的现在分词 )；逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Make sure your subordinates understand your sense of urgency and work toward instilling this in allsubordinates. 确保你的下属同样具备判断紧急事件的意识，在工作中潜移默化地灌输给他们。 来自互联网

13 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

14 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

15 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

16 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

17 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

18 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。